Bill Text: FL S1710 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Postsecondary Education
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Appropriations, companion bill(s) passed, see HB 5101 (Ch. 2014-56) [S1710 Detail]
Download: Florida-2014-S1710-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2014 SB 1710 By the Committee on Education 581-03212-14 20141710__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to postsecondary education; repealing 3 s. 1004.32, F.S., relating to New College of Florida; 4 amending s. 1004.65, F.S.; revising a Florida College 5 System institution’s primary responsibilities and 6 secondary role as they relate to providing upper-level 7 instruction and awarding baccalaureate degrees; 8 amending s. 1009.55, F.S.; increasing the annual 9 maximum number of scholarships that may be awarded; 10 increasing the annual maximum award amount per 11 student; creating s. 1009.893, F.S.; creating the 12 Florida National Merit Scholar Incentive Program; 13 defining terms; providing the purpose of the incentive 14 program; requiring the Department of Education to 15 administer the incentive program, advertise the 16 availability of the incentive program, and notify 17 students, teachers, parents, and school administrators 18 about the incentive program’s criteria and application 19 procedures; providing eligibility requirements for the 20 incentive program; requiring certain students who are 21 National Merit Scholars or National Achievement 22 Scholars to receive certain incentive awards; 23 providing eligibility requirements to renew an award; 24 authorizing a student to receive an incentive award 25 for certain maximum percentage amounts of the number 26 of credit hours required to complete an associate 27 degree, a baccalaureate degree, or a career 28 certificate; requiring the department to issue awards 29 from the incentive program and to transmit payment for 30 each award; authorizing the department to withhold 31 payment under certain circumstances; requiring 32 institutions to certify to the department the 33 eligibility status of each student to receive a 34 disbursement of an award during a specified time; 35 requiring the institution to certify to the department 36 the disbursement amounts to each student and remit to 37 the department undisbursed funds; providing for 38 proration of funds; prohibiting use of funds for 39 remedial coursework or developmental education; 40 authorizing a student to use funds during the summer 41 term under certain circumstances; authorizing 42 incentive program funds appropriated by the 43 Legislature to be deposited in the State Student 44 Financial Assistance Trust Fund; providing for use of 45 any remaining balance of appropriated funds in the 46 trust fund; requiring the department to allocate funds 47 to appropriate institutions and collect and maintain 48 certain data regarding the incentive program; 49 requiring the State Board of Education to adopt rules; 50 providing an effective date. 51 52 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 53 54 Section 1. Section 1004.32, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 55 Section 2. Paragraph (f) of subsection (5), subsection (6), 56 and paragraph (d) of subsection (8) of section 1004.65, Florida 57 Statutes, are amended to read: 58 1004.65 Florida College System institutions; governance, 59 mission, and responsibilities.— 60 (5) The primary mission and responsibility of Florida 61 College System institutions is responding to community needs for 62 postsecondary academic education and career degree education. 63 This mission and responsibility includes being responsible for: 64(f) Providing upper level instruction and awarding65baccalaureate degrees as specifically authorized by law.66 (6) A separate and secondary role for Florida College 67 System institutions includes the providing of upper level 68 instruction, the awarding of baccalaureate degrees specifically 69 authorized by law, and the offering of programs in: 70 (a) Community services that are not directly related to 71 academic or occupational advancement. 72 (b) Adult education services, including adult basic 73 education, adult general education, adult secondary education, 74 and General Educational Development test instruction. 75 (c) Recreational and leisure services. 76 (8) Florida College System institutions are authorized to: 77 (d) Provide access to and award baccalaureate degrees for 78 the completion of baccalaureate degree programs that are 79 approved by the State Board of Education on or before March 31, 80 2014in accordance with law. 81 82 Authority to offer one or more baccalaureate degree programs 83 does not alter the governance relationship of the Florida 84 College System institution with its district board of trustees 85 or the State Board of Education. 86 Section 3. Subsection (1) and paragraph (a) of subsection 87 (2) of section 1009.55, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 88 1009.55 Rosewood Family Scholarship Program.— 89 (1) There is created a Rosewood Family Scholarship Program 90 for the direct descendants of the Rosewood families, not to 91 exceed 5025scholarships per year. 92 (2) The Rosewood Family Scholarship Program shall be 93 administered by the Department of Education. The State Board of 94 Education shall adopt rules for administering this program which 95 shall at a minimum provide for the following: 96 (a) The annual award to a student shall be up to $6,100 97$4,000but should not exceed an amount in excess of tuition and 98 registration fees. 99 Section 4. Section 1009.893, Florida Statutes, is created 100 to read: 101 1009.893 Florida National Merit Scholar Incentive Program.— 102 (1) As used in this section, the term: 103 (a) “Department” means the Department of Education. 104 (b) “Incentive program” means the Florida National Merit 105 Scholar Incentive Program. 106 (2) The Florida National Merit Scholar Incentive Program is 107 created to reward any Florida high school graduate who receives 108 recognition as a National Merit Scholar or National Achievement 109 Scholar and who initially enrolls in the 2014-2015 academic 110 year, or later, in a degree program, certificate program, or 111 applied technology program at an eligible Florida public or 112 independent postsecondary educational institution. 113 (3) The department shall administer the incentive program 114 according to rules and procedures established by the State Board 115 of Education. The department shall advertise the availability of 116 the incentive program and notify students, teachers, parents, 117 certified school counselors, and principals or other relevant 118 school administrators of the criteria and application 119 procedures. 120 (4) In order to be eligible for an award under the 121 incentive program, a student must: 122 (a) Be a state resident as defined in s. 1009.40 and rules 123 of the State Board of Education. 124 (b) Earn a standard Florida high school diploma or its 125 equivalent pursuant to s. 1003.428, s. 1003.4281, s. 1003.4282, 126 or s. 1003.435 unless: 127 1. The student completes a home education program according 128 to s. 1002.41; or 129 2. The student earns a high school diploma from a non 130 Florida school while living with a parent or guardian who is on 131 military or public service assignment away from this state. 132 (c) Be accepted by and enroll in a Florida public or 133 independent postsecondary educational institution that meets the 134 eligibility requirements specified in s. 1009.533. 135 (d) Be enrolled for at least 6 semester credit hours or the 136 equivalent in quarter hours or clock hours. 137 (5)(a) An eligible student who is a National Merit Scholar 138 or National Achievement Scholar and who attends a public 139 postsecondary educational institution must receive an incentive 140 award equal to the institutional cost of attendance minus the 141 sum of the student’s Florida Bright Futures Scholarship and 142 National Merit Scholarship or National Achievement Scholarship. 143 (b) An eligible student who is a National Merit Scholar or 144 National Achievement Scholar and who attends an independent 145 postsecondary educational institution must receive an incentive 146 award equal to the highest cost of attendance at a Florida 147 public university, as reported by the Board of Governors of the 148 State University System, minus the sum of the student’s Florida 149 Bright Futures Scholarship and National Merit Scholarship or 150 National Achievement Scholarship. 151 (6)(a) To be eligible for a renewal award, a student must 152 meet the renewal requirements for the Florida Bright Futures 153 Scholarship Program set forth in s. 1009.532(1)(a) and for the 154 Florida Academic Scholars award set forth in s. 1009.534(3). 155 (b) A student may receive the incentive award for a maximum 156 of 100 percent of the number of credit hours required to 157 complete an associate degree program or a baccalaureate degree 158 program or receive an award for a maximum of 100 percent of the 159 credit hours or clock hours required to complete up to 90 credit 160 hours of a program that terminates in a career certificate. 161 (7) The department shall annually issue awards from the 162 incentive program. Before the registration period each semester, 163 the department shall transmit payment for each award to the 164 president or director of the postsecondary educational 165 institution, or his or her representative, except that the 166 department may withhold payment if the receiving institution 167 fails to report or to make refunds to the department as required 168 in this section. 169 (a) Each institution shall certify to the department the 170 eligibility status of each student to receive a disbursement 171 within 30 days before the end of its regular registration 172 period, inclusive of a drop and add period. An institution is 173 not required to reevaluate the student eligibility after the end 174 of the drop and add period. 175 (b) An institution that receives funds from the incentive 176 program must certify to the department the amount of funds 177 disbursed to each student and remit to the department any 178 undisbursed advances within 60 days after the end of regular 179 registration. 180 (c) If funds appropriated are not adequate to provide the 181 maximum allowable award to each eligible student, awards must be 182 prorated using the same percentage reduction. 183 (8) Funds from any award within the incentive program may 184 not be used to pay for remedial coursework or developmental 185 education. 186 (9) A student may use an award for a summer term if funds 187 are available and appropriated by the Legislature. 188 (10) Funds appropriated by the Legislature for the 189 incentive program awards may be deposited into the State Student 190 Financial Assistance Trust Fund. Notwithstanding s. 216.301 and 191 pursuant to s. 216.351, any balance in the trust fund at the end 192 of any fiscal year which has been allocated to the incentive 193 program must remain in the incentive program and shall be 194 available for carrying out the purposes of this section. The 195 department shall allocate funds to the appropriate institutions 196 and collect and maintain data regarding the incentive program 197 within the student financial assistance database as specified in 198 s. 1009.94. 199 (11) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules 200 necessary to administer this section. 201 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.